Living life the best I can

Month: February 2012

I even wrote him a letter during the 1988 Olympics complaining because Growing Pains was postponed because of the Olympics. (I did get an autographed postcard back from him)

So for my birthday, my mom decided to get us tickets to Starlight Theater to see Oliver starring…KIRK CAMERON! I was so excited I could hardly stand it!

What a surprise we were in for!

When we got to Starlight Theater, it seemed that somehow my mom had been misinformed, got confused, lied, I’m not sure what happened because my love was not actually starring in Oliver. I was crushed. But it did open my eyes to a new man.

I was introduced to Davvy Jones! He was actually starring in Oliver! After my initial shock of not seeing my future husband, I did end up enjoying the show and becoming a Davvy Jones fan.

I am to young to say Davvy Jones was a childhood crush of mine. I used to watch reruns of The Monkeys. I know their songs. I remember watching The Brady Bunch when he came to visit Marsha.

After I watched the magic of live theater + Davvy Jones, I always had a special place in my heart for Mr. Davvy Jones.

So our world lost a great guy today!! Davvy Jones, I know I’m younger than most of the people in your fan club, but I am a fan. Thanks for the fun, the music, the memories! And thanks Mom for making the mistake. I forgive you.

Isn’t is funny how God knows just what you need and he shows you whether it is through a song, a random conversation, a billboard, etc.?

My post from yesterday was pretty much, “Woe is me, please feel sorry for me.” Which is how I was feeling. My crazy kids are driving me over the edge. Literally? No, I’m not driving anywhere, but I had had enough.

Today I went to work and I did what I do when I need to think, I straightened nonfiction shelves. Laugh if you want, but I have found that when something is really getting to me, if I go back to the nonfiction shelves and organize, straighten and whatnot, it clears my head and helps me get a clearer picture of what is going on with my problem of the day.

As I was straightening, I came up with a game plan. I came up with a conversation to have with Paige on how to get her under control and I came up with a game plan of how to take back control concerning Parker. I was feeling good about it all.

As I was sitting at my desk, working on some much needed computer work, a student came in for a simple question. “Is my book overdue?” Now this student is one who frequents the library a lot. I have come to love her and look forward to when she comes in because she is quirky and fun and full of energy. Somehow her little question about her library book, turned into her telling me all about her life story. And what a life story it is! This quirky, sweet, happy young lady has had more junk happen to her than a Lifetime movie. It is amazing that she has overcome so many obstacles in her short life.

After I made sure she wasn’t skipping class, we continued our conversation. I say we but really, I just let her talk. She told me all about her family and the things she has endured and overcome.

Here’s the thing…until several years ago, I really thought that all families were like the family I grew up in. I thought everyone lived a Leave It To Beaver kind of life. I had no idea what was going on in many homes across my town. Even as a grown up, I really had no idea of what some of my students deal with every day until I taught a girl who was on homebound. This girl didn’t have a place to do her homework while she battled cancer. It was an eye opening experience for me.

After my little friend left the library, it was like God just laughed in my face and said, “And you think you have problems.” My family’s issues of tantrums and not going to bed are minuscule compared to what some of my students go through every evening. So Paige made a scene at the dentist…we’ll apology. So Parker didn’t go to bed when I thought he should…he was still bright eyed and cheerful this morning. I still have healthy kids who are good kids most of the time. I’m still going to have a conversation with Paige and I’m still going to try some new strategies to get control of Parker but I need to keep my eye on the bigger picture.

Thank you God for helping me get my perspective on things. That young lady walked through my door and helped me see the realities of life.

If you have read this blog much or know me, you know that I’m a pretty real person. I have a hard time being fake or insincere. Sometimes this doesn’t work out to well for me because it’s very hard for me to pretend to like someone that I don’t like. I love my job but I am truthful that every day at the middle school is not a cake walk. I have a great marriage but I’m the first one to say that the first year was tough. I love my kids but they do drive me crazy…

Which brings me to tonight’s topic…

My children are taking over our house.

Parker is totally a terrible two. He is full of tantrums, screaming, crying, hitting and being an overall pill. We can’t keep him in bed. We try the Super Nanny techniques but it doesn’t work. All of this horrid behavior turns me into a mom I’m not proud of. I don’t like to have to yell and spank. I want to be able to reason. It’s not working.

And then there’s Paige. Sweet, beautiful Paige, who threw such a tantrum at the dentist office today that I’m embarrassed to go back there. When Paige was smaller she was quite a drama queen. I thought she had gotten control of herself but the past month and a half, she has been going back to her old ways. She threw such a hit today that she wore herself out and was asleep by the time the doctor came in the room. He examined her teeth while she slept and I just prayed she wouldn’t have a cavity because how in the world would we get through that?

I go to Walmart and I see crazy kids. Let’s be honest, there are crazy kids at my school. I don’t understand how my kids got to be in that category. I discipline them, I love them, I take care of all of their needs yet I just had to go back to put Parker to bed for the 7,530 time tonight and he is still screaming…

Here’s my theory. I think we all have these issues but most people don’t want anyone else to know. At the beginning of the school year, Paige had lice. I was mortified. Here’s what I learned, everyone has had lice too but no one talks about it.

I want to be able to have fun with my kids and not punish them all the time. I keep telling myself that Parker is 2, it will get better. I guess I just need some reassurance. Anybody else want to go to a desert island with me??

I’ve been looking forward to having President’s Day off work. Normally, having the day off on President’s Day is a pipe dream. It is on the school calendar as a day off but because of weather we never seem to actually get to take it off.

I had made my to-do list and even stayed up late last night cleaning out my DVR so I wouldn’t be tempted to sit and catch up on my highly intellectual TV programs. (Think to yourself: Big Rich Texas, any Real Housewives, etc.)

My son had other plans for me. We started our morning out with him yelling at me because he did not want to eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast. (He has it tough doesn’t he?) The morning continued with tantrums, screaming, and fits of falling on the floor over the tiniest incidents (These were all by Parker but I wanted to join in)

Through all this craziness I did manage to give the kitchen a thorough cleaning, do laundry, get dinner ready, and I’m sure some other stuff but it was in the midst of all the crazy that is Parker.

At one point, Parker was crawling around on the floor while scooting his head on the carpet. I warned him he was going to hurt his head, but did he listen? Nope. My son now has a bright red carpet burn on his forehead. I’m so proud.

I have to say Paige was a really big helper today. I complimented her and she said she just thought she should be a good example to her brother. She got many chores done off our list too.

I think I can sum up this day by one conversation we just had at the dinner table. As Paige got ready to pray before we ate, I told her to remember to pray for Grandma Margie who had surgery today and also to pray that Parker would make better decisions. She prayed for them along with “all the people having surgery” and “those Army boys”. We went on with our dinner (which was really good and I’m planning to blog the recipe soon) and Parker continued to act crazy. Paige says, “Well I don’t think God was listening about Parker making good decisions.” I assured her God was doing His job but Parker wasn’t listening.

Parker is definitely in his Terrible Twos…Lord give me strength and patience.

I hope you had the day off today, you took advantage of it and if not, at least you had a productive day.

Several cases of drama-filled kindergartener including the drama of her two boyfriends finding out about each other

Getting ready to get new light fixtures in the kitchen

Starting preparations for a 6 year old birthday party–the first with friends

As you can see we have been a little bit busy. Unfortunately there have been no snow days but I am going to have President’s Day off for the first time I can remember. I am on the countdown to spring break and looking forward to getting out of school a lot earlier than last year.

The winter is flying by. Our house has been super busy but I’m hoping we will slow down for a couple weeks now.

When I was a kid it seemed so easy. I did something wrong so I got sent to my room…My mom seemed to be the queen of it.

Paige is an emotional child, you might say a drama queen…while she has done a lot of growing up in the past several months, we have had some setbacks lately. Today her emotions got the best of her and she is being punished. She has to stay in her room…for the whole night! And to top it off, she has to miss a family birthday party. I know, we are really mean!

The thing I never imagined was that it is hard to discipline your kids. I love Paige. She is fun. While she is banished to her room, I miss her and want her to be able to come hang out with me. I didn’t expect that. I never realized my parents had any problem disciplining me.

So while the boys went off to Nana’s to celebrate Jason’s birthday, Paige and I had a quiet dinner, just the two of us at the table before I sent her back to her “prison”. Paige and I had a heart to heart and I think I get why she acted like she did today, but I still didn’t give in. At one point during dinner Paige mentioned that it was like we were having a girl’s night. My response, “It’s more like a girl’s prison.”